Not Tough Enough
by stardust-lolita
Summary: The Alaskan Bull Worm is back, with one thing on its mind: revenge. Can Sandy stop it before it gets Spongebob? Oneshot. Warning: violence, and SpongexSandy, if you squint. R & R!


Sandy awoke with a shock, in the middle of the night. The ground beneath her was shaking, her first thought was - _earthquake!_...but something told her that wasn't the case. She stumbled out of bed - not really wanting to leave the comfort of her warm sheets - and stepped out onto the grass. Immediately, she saw a terrible, disturbingly familiar sight - the Alaskan Bull Worm! 

It looked as big and ferocious as the day she and Spongebob had faced it; but, as she watched it advance - she noticed something awfully purposeful about its actions...

...and the feeling came to her as clearly as if it was her own: iit wants revenge/i. She went inside her tree again and threw off her nightgown, struggled into her bikini - and then stepped into her diving suit and screwed on her air helmet, before going out into the ocean -

It was a vengeful thing, alright. It didn't seem to wanna waste time in senseless destruction. It paused at the Krusty Krab, stuck its ugly head outta the ground, and dove back down into the dirt, faster than -

_Spongebob!_

_...it's all my fault he helped me he tried to save me I can't let that thing get him!_

Sandy moved as fast as her legs could take her - as the worm rose, at its full height, behind Spongebob's pineapple.

"You rascal! You don't want him!" She taunted it. It began to open it's mouth in an attempt to devour the pineapple. She ran up to it and - not believing her own nerve, for once - kicked it.

"C'mon, you filthy vermin! I'm the one who tried to take you on, betcha I could've too, you don't look so big!" (Her mind was focused on one thing: get it away from Spongebob.)

This time, it reacted, lunging straight towards the squirrel, who dove out of the way. "Ha!" - she laughed, and then ran like hell, making sure the abominable thing was following her - she reckoned it would, judging by their last encounter. It was, and so she made her way to Goo Lagoon.

The worm ascended again and charged downward at Sandy, who leaped to miss the blow - but it caught her in the foot, jerking her upside-down, as she landed inside the thing's mouth. The girl struggled to get out, and when she finally thought she was free - the monster's jaws clamped down. It got her right in the chest, and then in the stomach as she grappled her way out. She moaned in anguish as she felt the hot blood gushing out of her.

_Oh, God._

She ripped off her suit and shoved it down its throat, using the distraction to escape. The pain from the bite was unbearable, the damage was done, and she was going to die. But if she went without killing the beast -

She couldn't. She summoned the remnants of her strength and bitterly kicked sand into its face, it choked some more and its eyes were bloodshot. It buried its head in the lagoon, trying to rid itself of the nuisance. It was then that Sandy knew the sacrifice she had to make. She let out a sob and felt the sting of her blood pouring out again.

Lifting her weakened paws to her air helmet, she did the only thing she could - she took it off, and smashed it into the Alaskan Bull Worm's ugly face. Writhing in pain and frustration, it buried its head deeper into the muck, and drowned.

She collapsed, sprawled by the shore, staring up at all the flowers in the sky. In her last moment of life, she felt herself smirk - _you were right, Spongebob. I wasn't tough enough._

___

* * *

_

Spongebob's foghorn alarm sounded six times, he leaped out of bed feeling refreshed and excited. It was Wednesday, his favorite day of the week! He smiled contently at the thought of last nights dream; having fallen asleep during a special Mermaidman and Barnacle Boy marathon, his dreams had been riddled with superheroes and villains - but he was taken out of his fanatical musing when he heard the familiar ring of his doorbell. He dutifully marched downstairs, where he was surprised to see a police fish at his door.

"Uh, hi?"

"Spongebob Squarepants?"

"That's me."

"I'm...sorry to have to tell you this..." There was a grim, ominous tone to his voice that the sponge didn't like, at all.

"What happened...?"

The cop silently handed him a piece of paper. As he read, Spongebob could feel poison pulsing through his veins, and his heart dropping into his stomach.

At four o'clock, on the morning of May 26th, the body of Miss Sandra Cheeks was found at Goo Lagoon...with lethal trauma to the chest and stomach...

His mind was reeling as he scanned the page. No, no no no, no! He looked up at the cop, barely seeing him for the hot salty tears flowing from his eyes.

_Sandy._

All of his sensibility escaped him as he begged - "WHO KILLED HER? WHO THE -"

The cop pointed to the bottom of the page, which named the Alaskan Bull Worm as the culprit.

"It's back?" His voice sounded dead and hollow.

"No, it's dead, thank Neptune - drowned in the lagoon."

"Why'd she - "

"The reason we came to you, Mr. Squarepants, was because Miss Cheeks was sighted at your home after 3 A.M. - trying to bait the worm away, apparently. Did you - happen to hear anything funny last night?"

"No." He murmured weakly, and excused himself, shutting the door. He curled himself into a fetal position by his door and bawled.

For hours he laid there, staring blankly at the ceiling, until there were no more tears to shed - he saw Sandy before him, sweet and immortal...his heroine, his best friend.

* * *

Three months have passed since the "Bloodshed at the Goo Lagoon" - the newspapers called it - but still Spongebob couldn't bring himself to think of his beloved friend as dead. Sandy was too big for death, he imagined. 

Of course, he had had the grueling task of identifying her body. As he stood over her he was shaking all over, breaking out in gooseflesh.

People always say the dead look peaceful - but Sandy Cheeks didn't just look peaceful...

She had a wicked smile played across her lips, and that was what no one but Spongebob could've understood.

"Sandy..." his hand stroked her pretty, wan face. "...you were always tough enough."

* * *

A/N: There were two things I was debating before I posted this story: the rating, and whether or not to warn for 'character death.' I didn't think there was enough descriptive violence in this fic to warrant an "M" rating, and I am strongly against warning for character death. Why spoil the story? 

BTW, I love Sandy - I didn't hurt her out of unkindness.

...and, if you read this fic and enjoy it - please take the time to leave a comment, I'm a total comment whore.


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